JEFF, Ky. (BP) – A Knott Central High School football player is being remembered for his kindness to others and love for Jesus after a tragic turn. Aaron “Mick” Crawford was helping victims of the southeastern Kentucky flooding for three days last week when he became ill. He passed away Friday at UK Hospital, four days after becoming sick, according to his mother, Ronda Crawford.

As war continues in their home country, many Ukrainians are traveling to distant places for refuge. One of the countries that has opened its borders to refugees is Brazil.  Church planters Vitalii and Iryna Arshulik are Ukrainians living in Brazil and ministering in an area where 80% of the population is of Ukrainian descent.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber has announced the members and leaders of those making up the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force. Messengers to the annual meeting in Anaheim tasked Barber with the responsibility as part of the approved recommendations from the Sexual Abuse Task Force.

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – In the aftermath of flash flooding that killed 37 people in the Kentucky mountains, residents here are turning to Christ. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said it’s not unusual for people to seek God amid tragic circumstances. That why, he said, teams of Disaster Relief volunteers realize their role isn’t simply to help with the clean up, but to offer spiritual guidance to survivors.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Ongoing attacks on pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations have presented security challenges, but they have not thwarted continuing, faith-based efforts to minister to women in need.

SEDONA, Ariz. (BP) – Bowed heads before their meal on an anniversary trip led a Tennessee couple to an opportunity to share their faith. That encounter, in turn, was followed by a social media call-out for help and success in connecting the new believer to a local church.

SAN DIEGO (BP) – Last year Old Town Community Church sent 72 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to the Philippines. This year, they’re sending 500.

CRESTON, Iowa (BP) – “I’m just excited about some trends we are seeing in our church now,” Pastor Charles “Chuck” Spindler told Baptist Press recently. “Post-pandemic I’m seeing people with a desire to get reconnected, especially young families.

NASHVILLE (BP) — Most pastors have seen mental illness in their pews, while some have seen it in themselves. A Lifeway Research study explores U.S. Protestant pastors’ experiences with mental illness and how well their churches are equipped to respond to those who need help.

DOUGLAS, Ga. – For retired Associational Missionary Ray Coleman, attending church has always been central in his life, but, since having a debilitating stroke two years ago, he had been unable to go. Until now. Churches in the Smyrna Baptist Association, where he served for two decades, joined together to purchase Coleman a wheelchair-accessible van that has allowed him to be on the road again.

FLEMING-NEON, Ky. – It was a neighbor’s phone call that alerted Thelma Hall to the flash flood ravaging Fleming-Neon, a tiny community near the Kentucky-Virginia border. Cars were bobbing in the street just outside her front door in floodwater that killed at least 37 people throughout eastern Kentucky.

KELLY, La. (BP) – J Bear is old and can get stuck in his ways, stubborn even. At any moment he makes a racket for no other reason than to let others know he’s there. Small in stature, a first impression may leave you wondering what kind of good he can accomplish. But he can work with kids like no other animal owner Evelyn Pardue ever encountered.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Giving through the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget remains far ahead of its annual goal with the fiscal year total growing to nearly $169 million—more than $10.4 million over the projected giving.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Pro-life advocates expressed disappointment but resolve in response to the rejection by Kansas voters of an amendment to affirm the state constitution does not protect the right …

A mission trip for a team of women was an all-hands-on-deck, transformational experience. Six women from Iglesia Bautista Nueve Jerusalem in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Arkansas Hispanic Woman’s Missionary Union traveled to Peru to aid in the ministry of Iglesia Bautista Gracia y Verdad, alongside International Mission Board missionary Amy Fisher.

Emerging from the shutdowns and quarantines of the pandemic, Georgia Baptists are continuing to get back into the swing of international missions with vision trips and mission trips. Each of the six regions is focused on local, national and international partnerships. This has allowed churches to exponentially increase their impact and multiply their efforts.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Two Southern Baptist pastors with recent leadership experience in addressing sexual abuse in the SBC will fill similar roles with the Abuse Response Implementation Task Force. Marshall Blalock, pastor of First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., will be chair while Mike Keahbone, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lawton, Okla., will serve as vice chair, SBC President Bart Barber announced Monday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Jeremy Pierre has seen Southern Seminary from virtually every side, as a student and a professor. Now, he is stepping into another important role at Southern. President Albert Mohler this week announced the appointment of Pierre as the sixth dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Ministry.

Native Americans called it, “The Year the Stars Fell.” A meteor shower in November 1833 was one of the most spectacular light shows in history. For nine hours, it's estimated between 50,000 and 150,000 meteors per hour lit the night sky. Newspapers reported that people thought it was the second coming. Many ran for cover and prayed. On the other hand, Native Americans considered meteors good luck and a shower like this was considered a good omen.

WASHINGTON (BP) — While the nation’s economic challenges are ongoing, GuideStone President Hance Dilbeck said the words of 1 Samuel 7:12 are guiding the GuideStone team. In the passage, as the prophet sets up the stone of help — Ebenezer — Samuel says, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

JENKINS, Ky. – Yards in this tiniest of Kentucky towns are piled high with soggy mattresses, sofas and other furnishings ruined by last week’s deadly flashfloods. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews are in Jenkins and nearby Fleming-Neon helping victims with cleanup in the aftermath of the flooding that killed at least 37 people.

ORLINDA, Tenn. (BP) — Bivocational Pastor Mark Carroll is the only paid staff member at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, a congregation of about 50 worshipers in the farming community of Orlinda, Tenn., where less than 1,000 people live. But the church is embracing its cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention in creating ministry spaces safe and free from sexual abuse, Carroll told Baptist Press.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) — Send Relief, the compassion ministry arm of Southern Baptists, is encouraging churches to engage their communities by meeting needs and building bridges for sharing the gospel on August 7. On the SBC calendar, the month of August represents an opportunity for churches to focus on Christian service, and Send Relief has resources for churches designed to help them plan a backpack day for their communities.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (BP) – For a guy in the 1980s, Will Frazer appeared to be living his best life now. A degree from the University of Florida led to a job on Wall Street as a bond trader. That led to an obscene amount of money in a place Frazer came to describe as “a moral sewer.” Eventually, he had enough of both and at 27 years old bought a Ferrari and semi-retired to his native Florida, spending the next ten years playing a lot of golf and doing pretty much whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–At the Executive Committee meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union Foundation Board on Thursday, David George announced his plans to retire effective June 30, 2023.  After 21 years as president, George wants to devote more time to his family, his church, and to volunteer ministry efforts. He believes the WMU Foundation is in a strong position and ready for a transition.